The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 191,881 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,636 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.07% of Essential Utilities worth $7,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 95.0% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 975 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.96% of the company's stock.
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Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities
In related news, Director Ellen T. Ruff sold 8,560 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.96, for a total transaction of $410,537.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,577.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Essential Utilities to $53.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Essential Utilities to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.86.
Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3 %
NYSE WTRG opened at $47.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.50 and a 12 month high of $52.62. The company's fifty day moving average price is $47.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.04.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 7th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $434.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.00 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 22.04%. As a group, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Essential Utilities Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.287 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.97%.
About Essential Utilities
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Essential Utilities, Inc is a holding company, which engages in providing water, wastewater and natural gas services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. The Regulated Water segment includes water and wastewater regulated utility companies.
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